Reviewed By: Donna M - RAM
The Burning Girl
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Mark Billingham
Class/Genre: Mystery
Series: Tom Thorne # 4
William Morrow
There's a turfwar in London and the various gangs are vying for the top position. Extortion, protection rackets and violence are on the increase. And somebody is killing members of one of the gangland families. It looks as though the deaths are contract hits - except for one thing. The killer has taken the time to carve an X into the backs of the dead gang members. DI Tom Thorne is not best pleased to be the one investigating the murders of pondscum, and laughs have been thin on the ground lately. So when ex-DCI Carol Chamberlain calls him for help, he jumps at the chance.
Twenty years ago, Carol had been instrumental in capturing Gordon Rooker - a man who set fire to a young girl, disfiguring her horrifically. Gordon Rooker is still in jail and can't have been the man who has just telephoned Carol to say "I burned her."
This is the fourth entry in the Tom Thorne series and the best to date. Thorne is a very real character and what Mark Billingham does exceptionally well is to show a character who is affected and changed by his experiences - both personal and professional. The Tom Thorne of THE BURNING GIRL is different in a lot of ways from the Tom Thorne of SLEEPY HEAD, the first book in the series. He has emotional and physical scars which have made him look at things differently and give THE BURNING GIRL a darker feel than previous books. It's not just the bad guys who cross the line sometimes.
Thorne's relationships with his friends and colleagues and, especially, his father are also very well done - there's humour, sadness and realism in all of them. The plot is thrilling - a look at organised crime and the people who'll do anything for money, no matter what the human cost.
Donna M - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Donna M - RAM
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